We have all been there we have lost a game or two, but some of the best learning experiences come from failure. When you lose a game it is so important that you learn from it, don’t blame the lost on the dice, your build etc. take accountability for the loss and learn from it. Talk to your opponent see what they thought of the game and how it could have played out differently. Keep cool don’t give up and don’t get discouraged ether.
When you focus on what you did instead of what the dice did or how lists performed you start to see what you can do as a player to be better. You will see the mistakes you made and how by changing a few things the game could have gone complete differently. Don’t beat up on the dice when they did not roll your way and you come up short on damage, instead think what could you have done to make things better, did you mess up on the double arch, did you not time your commands correctly, did you possession yourself so you would not get another shot on that ship from this game, did you maneuver in such a way that you have no escape route and are now stuck and will die causing you to lose by a greater margin. Remember when you lose it was because you were outplayed and/or made mistakes it was not because you were out lucked. Luck is less of a factor in this game then most people think sure wiffs happen and so do spikes, but if your opponent rolls 10 damage on one of your ships you knew that was a possibility however unlikely. Remember luck it is not the deciding factor, I have had many games where the other player was rolling hot, but I still came out on top, luck is not the deciding factor in a game you are.
During casual games I almost always talk with my opponent about the game state, evaluate it turn by turn activation by activation. When the game is over I almost always talk about how it could have gone better what I should have done differently etc. These conversations are important and will help you gain a deeper understanding of the game as a whole. This also helps you see things from another perspective and that can be extremely helpful, causing you to learn and see things you would not have otherwise.
When you lose remember to stay cool it’s a game and while some games may carry more weight than others we are hear to have fun. If you lose your cool or get discouraged its hard to learn from your losses, if you are having a hard time ask for advice, and take the criticism don’t become defensive.
Some games tend carry more weight than others but keeping it cool in these settings after a loss is even more important because it’s the “Big” games that you lose that you can learn the most from. You can complain about the dice rolls you can get down about how the list you brought is bad, but I believe that any list is capable of winning a game with a skilled enough player behind it. The list may not be a huge margin of victory but any list can win. That is why it is so important to look at what you did, and how you could have done better. Sure there are upgrades that are better than others and ships that are better than others as well, but to a skilled and creative player even “unique” lists can overcome the top tier ones. We have seen it time and again where something “unique” comes out of a tournament doing really well something people thought could never be pulled off and then it starts to dominate.
Take accountability for your losses sure they might have rolled 10 damage on your ship, but you put that ship in a position to be able to take 10 damage, it may have not been likely to get ten damage but you knew it was possible, and that was a risk you chose to take. in the end even the big rolls by your opponent are still in some shape or fashion your doing.
I am not perfect at doing all of these things, but when I follow this I end up learning something new every time. So stay accountable for your losses don’t get discouraged, and you will learn and improve the losses will become less and less, and even when they do come you will still be engaged and will still have fun as you learn from your mistakes. Until next time have a wonderful week everyone!
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